THE TURF IN AUSTRALIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18357, 24 March 1923, Page 12

THE TURF IN AUSTRALIA.

THE SYDNEY CUP.

BY PHAETON.

A When the last ; mail ;to / hand left Sydney King Ingoda ; ruled I favourite , for the Sydney Cup. and that, too, in the face of his being called upon to carry an impost 271b in excess VVof :•';'. the •; weight ■;_■"• under , ■ which he won the Melbourne Cup. . The New , Zealand-bred colt, The y Cypher, figured well up in the Quotations*-and, as King Ingoda only beat \ him half ,-: a i neck in the decision of ,: the Melbourne - Cup '0 at a ;difference of Sib, the son of Martian should bo able to again dispute matters with his rival ■ with 7lb the best of tho weights. Harvest King (9.6), who has 6lb over weight-for-age, is ticked off as a a likely one to take a hand in .. the finish, and the A.J.C. Derby winner. Rivoli (8.7). is not without friend*.'- , '■:.'■'■:■'

THE MONK-WILL HE STAY

'The New Zealand colt The Monk is given a lot of credit for his victory in the Ascot Vale Stakes at Flemington, but though hie physique is voted everything that might be desired a doubt is expressed as to his staying beyond a mile at his best. Well, the fact has, of course, to be admitted that Absurd'* descendants are mostly sprinters, but The Monk may prove to be an exception. In thei decision of the Sirs*' Produce ' Stakes at Randwick next Saturday, The Monk will Be required to travel sewn furlongs, and that should furnish, a good test of his capabilities. In referring to The Monk " Pilot." of the Sydney Referee, remarked:--" I have heard it suggested seven furlongs may bother the former. I do not think so. He has shown he can run six furlongs down the straight at Flemington, and ma,ny jockeys say that at Rand wick a seven turlongs race is really not as trying a* one at six furlongs."

EURYTHMIC'S CLOSING EFFORTS. Melbourne papers now to hand bring details of the closing stages in the racing career of Eurythmio. Reasons were assigned for his early defeats, and F. Dempsey stood down to give another jockey a chance with " the flying chestnut." G. Harrison waa selected to ride Eurythmic in the CM. Lloyd Stakes, and has friends rallied to such an extent that it was a case of odds' on the chestnut. The change of riders did nut bring about the .alteration expected in certain quarters, and Eurythmio had to strike his colours to the three-year-old Maid of the Mist. Alter the C. M. Lloyd I Stakes a representative of , the Argus had » chat with G. Harrison about the dele&t of Eurythmio, and that rider delivered himself as follows:—" Eurythmic was always going well within himself • until the straight was reached. At the distance Johnstone was riding Maid of the Mist fairly, hard, while I had not moved on Eurythmic. and I thought that he Was certain to win. Though he responded well when I began to ride him, he did not show his old brilliancy, and was not able to overtake Maid of the Mist. I hit Eurythmic twice with the whip, and he was inclined to * squirm' away from it, but that may have been because be was tiring. Eurythmic is a lovely horse to ride, but he is not a* good" as he was." '"Pilot,' of the Sydney Referee, remarks:-—"Eurythmic has evidently not deteriorated to any marked extent, but that electric finishing run ha* been missing this season. Dempsey ay not have been actually please* when Maid of the Mat beat Eurythmio. but it was excusable if he felt a certain amount of satis-fa-tion. > Ho was aware he was blamed by most people for the horse's failures, and it would have been regarded as absolute proof if another jockey had won on Eurythmic. It is nice for any jockey to be associated with a champion when at it* best, but as soon a* it starts to get beaten there are always racing men ready to ascribe the loss of form to the rider and not the horse. ,

• CARBINE AND EURYTEMIC. In j a reference to the fortunes and misfortunes of Eurythmic " Teviotdale." of the Australasian, penned the following'He is a tremendously-speedy horse, and, I believe, at his best a great one. but rods behind Carbine." " Pilot." of the Sydney Referee, evidently had a desire to splinter a lance with his Victorian comrade re tne above, for he tacked the following on to tne par:—"lf Teviotdale' had said as a stays*-. moat racing men would have supported his ideas; but ft comparison of performances does not prove that from seven furlongs to a mile and ft-half Carbine could gallop faster than Eurythmic. Carbine could not do more than win, and it would be absurd to suggest he was not a great. horse, but from a modern standpoint the only, really fast race he ran at less than a mile and ft-half was when he put up 2m 7s in the Craven Plate at Bandwick. ; Present-day tactic were adopted in that race. . Carbine and Megaphone going at each other almost from the time they jumped off, with the result that they beat the third horse. Cuirassier. 20 lengths, and Cardigan was further back. Carbine a fastest time for a sevenfurlong race was lm 27! a and for ft mile lm alts. Admittedly time is not everything, but it always eeems to me it is reverence for the past more than anything" "else that causes many old-time champions to m so greatly extolled. Even making full allowance for improved tracks and different riding tactics, hors»s now run all distances in times that would have, been regarded a* almost impossible—or discredited as being incorrect—3o years ago." V

BATTERIES AND DOPES. . The alleged use of batteries and dopes continues to be warmly discussed in South Australia, Writing in the Adelaide Observer of a recent,, date, '' Mostyn" penned the following on the subject:—-"It is quite an accepted : fact that electric batteries for use on racecourses are being , manufactured in this State and are distributed, but it ia no easy matter for the officials in charge of the various meetings to catch the offenders. The contrivance in use is not much bigger, than a watch, and may be readily concealed in ft jockey's hand, and, can be thrown away or given to an accomplice quite easily. Some people are prone to laugh when a stipendiary steward thinks it his duty to run the rule-over' a jockey on the off chance of discovering one of these batteries, and fails to find anything. One thing certain is that if ever the stipendiary stewards succeed in catching a jockey or trainer .usinp a battery or ■ a dope, the disqualification nanded out is sure to be one that will be remembered not only by the parties concerned, but by the general public as well. The .racecourse is no place for the trainer or the jockey who resorts to such practices-" '%

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. When The Cypher was sent out to measure strides in the King's Plate at Flemington on th« 10th inet. he ruled almost equal favourite with Harvest King. The New Zealand-bred colt, however, never had "a chance with his Victorian rival when it came to actual racing. There is reason to believe that The Cypher started with the full confidence of his parly, but his display seems to point to his being below first-class weight-for-age turn. ■■•■■..'. The Sonlt horse, Beau Soult. has been brought into such marked prominence by the brilliancy displayed by his eon Beauford that his owner no doubt considers the horse should have more extensive opportunities to distinguish himself as a sire, and the New Zealand-bred horse is to so up for sale at Randwick next month. Much curiosity is evinced t-s to the shape the bidding will take in the competition for the brown son of Soult and Our Lady. ;' it is to be accounted extremely rare in these days to find a horse : competing - at a meeting held at Flemington under the auspices of the Victoria Racing Club with the words '" pedigree unknown" (titer its name. Such, however, was entered up at the recent autumn meeting. Warry, who won the Autumn Steeplechase, was bred in the back blocks, and, u is humorously remarked, without father or mother. The WelkinDanaide mare Furious did not apparently shed all her brilliancy at three years old, for at Rosehill on the 10th inst. she -carred 10.1 to victory in the Rydalm«*r* Mil?, and beat ft field of 19 in great style. _ Furious ie well engaged at tho forthcoming mooting at Randwick, and sh* may have something to say in the settlement of the weight-for-age races. The Australian ring has been heavily struck on several occasions this •season, and the recent successes of S'tnbtir.'t and Prince Cox in the two leading handicaps at Fleminston is said to have depleted "their ban'une accounts to a marked extent. Sir Ramuel Hordern, one of the part-owners of Prinze Cox. is credited with having: had £10,000 to £300 aboit the winning double. Under the heading "Genuine oat. Racing" " Piiot." ot the Sydney Referee, writes:"l have often heard horses racing in Sydney denounced as 'goats,' but recently Perth- has been indulging in genuine feor.t-racing- There haa been betting on" it, and there was a £50 consultation on a £10 handicap decided at the commencement of this month. In some towns in Queensland oat-racing took on for a time, but it was angerous to bet on, as some of the youthful riders and drivers had very little to : learn from the horse boys." . v : The victory registered by Maid of the Mist when she defeated Eurythmic in the C. MLloyd Stakes was one of the biggest surprises in a weight-for-age race for a long time past. The filly was the' greatest outsider, and it Is doubtful if she was backed by her party for as much as a sovereign. A two-year-old racing in Queensland bears the title of, "The Mighty Ism," At a recent meeting the youngster in question made a successful debut. He 19 described as by Cairn Wallace, and it may therefore be inferred traces to Carbine's greatest Australian-bred son, Wallace. Mr. 11. W. Brown., who went across to New South Wales some little time back, announces- an early return to New Zealand, and his horses, Wrangle, Still Sea, and Spook, are entered in the sale lift. The euro paid away in stakes by the Victoria, Racing Club over the recent autumn meeting held at Flemington amounted to £30.298.